Indian Among Three Employees of French Firm Abducted, Killed in Kabul

By Little India Desk | August 2, 2018

Three Sodexo workers were abducted and killed in Kabul on Aug. 2 by militants. The incident has once again raised concerns about the safety of expatriates in the Afghan capital.

All the three men were employed with Sodexo, the world’s second largest food and catering services company, Reuters reported, citing Afghan official sources.

“An Indian, a Malaysian and a Macedonian citizen were abducted and killed. We have found their bodies,” Hashmat Stanekzai, a spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, told the news agency.

The Malaysian national was 64 years old, while the Indian and Macedonian men were aged 39 and 37, respectively. They were travelling on work, accompanied by a local driver. The three worked as cooks for the company.

The identity of the three individuals could be confirmed since identity cards were found on the bodies, according to an Afghan security official.

“They were shot dead and their bodies were found inside a car,” Nusrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the interior ministry, was quoted as saying in the report.

The police revealed that they were abducted near Pul-e-Charkhi on the eastern outskirts of Kabul but the dead bodies were spotted in a car that was parked in the Mussahi district in the southern part of Kabul province. Mussahi is a remote and mountainous region located about half an hour’s drive from Kabul city.

It appeared that four kidnappers were involved in the killing, TOLOnews reported citing police sources. All the three victims were apparently shot in the head, the publication said, adding that police patrolling the area spotted the vehicle at about 10.30 am and went to investigate. The abductors, who were still at the scene, fled in a second car parked nearby when they saw the police approaching.

The driver of the vehicle in which the three were travelling is currently being questioned by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), although it is not known where he was found, the TOLOnews report added.

Sodexo, a French company, mainly manages canteens and various food services for schools, colleges, offices, prisons and hospitals. Their large pool of clients includes U.S Marine Corps and Royal Ascot Racecourse in England. The company has not offered any comment yet.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident so far.

While incidents of abduction and killing of local people by militant groups or local criminals who try to seek a hefty amount of ransom are reported a lot in Afghanistan, the targeted victims have involved foreigners as well.

In August 2016, two professors, Australian Timothy Weeks and American Kevin King, were abducted while working for the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. They appeared in a hostage video released by the Islamist militant group Taliban in January 2017, appealing to then U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to offer a prisoner swap for their release, the BBC reported.